Tennis-Australia bad boy Tomic says ready for Davis Cup

MELBOURNE, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Bernard Tomic has declared himself available for Australia's Davis Cup semi-final against Britain after being booted from the team in the wake of a public tirade at his country's tennis establishment at Wimbledon. Tomic has been in a war of words with Tennis Australia (TA), whose high performance chief Pat Rafter declared he had hit "rock bottom" after being arrested by Miami police for a noisy party in his hotel room in July. However, local media reported Tomic had met with Australia's Davis Cup captain at the U.S. Open, a move that could pave the way for the reinstatement of the world number 24 ahead of the Sept. 18-20 semi-final. "I'm ready to play," Tomic told reporters after this third round loss to Frenchman Richard Gasquet. "We need our best players out there. If I have the opportunity I'm always ready to play these ties." Belgium play Argentina in the other semi-final. Tomic was ruled out of Australia's quarter-final against Kazakhstan after slamming TA officials at Wimbledon for cutting funding to his sister, who plays mostly on the second-tier ITF circuit. It was the second time he was axed from the team, having been ruled out of a tie in early 2013 for a poor attitude and a perceived lack of commitment to the national cause. (Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne, editing by Amlan Chakraborty)